February 27, 2012

Attorney General Holder Names Tony West Third In Command At DOJ

Tony West, who has led the Justice Department's Civil Division since April 2009, was named today acting associate attorney general.

West, as the third in command at Justice, will replace Thomas Perrelli, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. announced. Perrelli, who managed the Washington office of Jenner & Block, recently announced his plans to leave DOJ.

Holder today also named Stuart Delery the acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Division. West and Delery were not immediately reached for comment this afternoon.

“Tony and Stuart have served the department with professionalism, integrity and dedication, and both bring a wealth of experience to their new positions,” Holder said in a prepared statement. “I’m confident they will provide invaluable leadership and will play a critical role in furthering the department’s key priorities and fulfilling its traditional missions.”

West was a Morrison & Foerster partner when he took over the leadership of the Civil Division, the largest litigation division at Main Justice. Civil Division lawyers have defended the constitutionality of the health care laws and are involved in legal issues stemming from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

West serves as a co-leader on several DOJ-sponsored financial fraud enforcement initiatives, including the recently announced residential mortgage-backed securities working group.

Delery has served as senior counselor to Holder, focusing on civil and appellate matters, since August 2010. The department said Delery has served as a member of DOJ’s health care litigation team.

In 2009, Delery joined the department as chief of staff and counsel to then-Deputy Attorney General David Ogden. Delery later became an associate deputy attorney general, focusing on, among other things, the Justice Department’s preparation of a suit challenging Arizona’s immigration law.

Delery is a former litigation partner in the Washington office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. At Wilmer, Delery was vice-chair of the firm’s securities department.